Adam Lallana
Adam David Lallana (born 10 May 1988) is an English international footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liverpool. Liverpool career Following the conclusion of the 2013-14 season, it was widely reported that Brendan Rodgers had identified the highly-rated Southampton attacking midfielder Adam Lallana as a priority transfer target. Press reports circulated of bids in the region of £20,000,000 and £25,000,000 being submitted by Liverpool, with Southampton holding out for closer to £30,000,000. After Lallana's involvement in the 2014 World Cup, negotiations between the two clubs accelerated and, on 1 July 2014, Liverpool announced the signing- reportedly for £23,000,000 with £2,000,000 add-ons- believed to make Lallana the second-most expensive signing in Liverpool's history. The move quickly re-united Lallana with his former Southampton teammate Rickie Lambert, whom Liverpool had signed earlier in the summer. Lallana opted to wear shirt number 20, and upon signing, stated "I've been granted my wish to play at such a fantastic football club, in Champions League football and competing for Premier League titles." Brendan Rodgers described Lallana as a "special commodity." Lallana's Anfield career began in disappointing fashion as, on 25 July 2014, he suffered a knee ligament injury in training before he'd made a single appearance for the club. He was ruled out for six weeks. Lallana finally made his debut on 13 September 2014, starting Liverpool's home tie with Aston Villa. Unfortunately it would not be an occasion to remember as the Reds lost 1-0. Lallana's performances over the coming games attracted praise, despite Liverpool struggling to put together many winning performances. On 4 October 2014, he netted his first Liverpool goal in the Reds' home tie with West Brom. Shortly before half time, Lallana exchanged a one-two with Jordan Henderson, breaking into the box and slotting the ball across Ben Foster into the far corner of the net from a tight angle. Liverpool went on to win 2-1. After a spell of finding himself in and out of the team, Lallana netted his second Liverpool goal on 2 December 2014. In the Reds' away tie against Leicester City, with Leicester 1-0 up, Lallana acted fast to lash a ball in the box past 'keeper Kasper Schmeichel to tie the game. Liverpool went on to win 3-1. Lallana next scored on 29 December 2014 in Liverpool's home clash with Swansea. In the 51st minute, keeper Lukasz Fabianski took a goal kick that rebounded off Lallana and looped into the net. Ten minutes later, Lallana netted again, this time with a well-placed effort after receiving the ball from Philippe Coutinho and skillfully evading the Swansea defence. After struggling for consistent game time, partly owing to injury, Lallana came off the bench in Liverpool's home tie against Tottenham on 10 February 2015 to assist Mario Balotelli's winning goal with a low cross as the Reds' prevailed 3-2. In Liverpool's next game- an away FA Cup tie against Crystal Palace on 14 February 2015- Lallana scored the winner in a 2-1 victory, slotting in the rebound after a Mario Balotelli free kick was parried by goalkeeper Julian Speroni. On 1 March 2015, Lallana played the duration of Liverpool's home match against Manchester City and helped the Reds claim a 2-1 win. In the match, Lallana scored two goals but both were disallowed for offside. On 16 May 2015, Lallana opened the scoring in Steven Gerrard's final game at Anfield, latching onto a poor ball by former red Martin Kelly, he ran through on goal and cooley slotted it past the keeper. However, he was on the losing side as the Reds were defeated 3-1 by Crystal Palace. Lallana was in the starting lineup for the opening two games of the season, but he was ruled out for a month through injury. On 17 September 2015 he made his return, starting- and scoring in a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux. He picked up the ball from Alberto Moreno, before nutmegging the defender and slotting it into the corner. Less than a week later, he crossed the ball in for Danny Ings to score the opening goal in a League Cup tie against Carlisle, but missed his penalty in the shootout. On 1 October 2015, Lallana started in a 1-1 draw at home to Sion, and scored the opening goal, poking it into the corner after good play from Divock Origi. He did however miss a fantastic chance to put the Reds 2-1 up, hitting it straight at the keeper from five yard, despite having a wide open goal to aim for. On 23 January 2016, Lallana finally scored his first Premier League goal of the season, and in the most spectacular of circumstances, smashing the ball off the ground into the top corner to make it 5-4 to Liverpool with one of the final kicks off the game. Lallana had came on as a substitute and assisted Roberto Firmino's equaliser with a fantastic ball from the left flank to put the Brazilian one v one with the goalkeeper. On 6 February 2016, Lallana scored again, this time a simple tap in after great work by Roberto Firmino to put the Reds 2-0 up against Sunderland. However, the game ended 2-2. On 2 March 2016, Lallana put in a man of the match performance as the Reds beat Manchester City 3-0 at Anfield. Lallana opened the scoring with a great strike from around 20 yards. He then went on to assist Roberto Firmino for Liverpool's third. Stats Lallana Lallana Lallana